Trento, 31 March 2024

Itas Trentino-Mint Vero Volley Monza 3-0, the match report

Chronicle of game 1. After fifteen days of waiting, Itas Trentino came back in front of their home crowd, still missing Sbertoli; therefore, Acquarone was once again the starting setter, with Rychlicki on the opposite side, Michieletto and Lavia in area 4, Kozamernik and Podrascanin in the middle, and Laurenzano as libero. Mint Vero Volley had to do without Maar at the last minute (a ball to the face suffered on Saturday afternoon in training advised against his participation) and responded with Kreling as setter, Szwarc as opposite, Loeppky and Takahashi as spikers, Galassi and Di Martino in the middle, and Gaggini as libero. Despite the heavy absence, it is the guests who get off to a better start, thanks to Kreling’s block on Lavia (3-5), which almost immediately breaks the balance. Kozamernik with another block (on Takahashi) guarantees parity at 6 and then an ace of his own guarantees the first home advantage (9-8). Michieletto's rebuild after a great double defence by the Gialloblù is worth +2 (11-9), then Alessandro goes on his own for the ace that draws +3 (13-10), and forces Eccheli to interrupt the game. At resumption, Monza did not give up and went up to minus one (18-17) with Loeppky, before taking the lead with a block by the same Canadian hammer and a counterattack. At 19-20 Fabio Soli spent both time outs, but it was still all Monza at the net (19-22); Trento went up to 22-23 again thanks to Michieletto (another ace), and then clutched parity at 24-24 with a break point on a pipe by the left-handed spiker. At the break point Itas Trentino put the arrow in the driver's seat with two consecutive aces by Lavia (27-25).
Still galvanized by the happy epilogue of the first set, the hosts started off at full speed in the second (4-1 and 7-2), driven forward by Rychlicki and Kozamernik (serve, attack and block). The guests struggled a lot in attack, also because Trento raised the intensity in defence and often found break points at the net (9-5 and 13-7). Eccheli alternated a few turnovers trying to change momentum (Mujanovic in for Szwarc), but the Italian champions conceded nothing (18-12 and 21-15), travelling confidently towards a 2-0 home lead, which only came at 25-20 (Galassi's direct error) as the locals' grip loosened slightly in the final exchanges.
In the third set Itas Trentino once again took the lead early (5-2, 8-6 and 11-7), thanks to a greater incisiveness in attack and serve, fundamentals where Kozamernik continued to make the difference. Monza, who kept Mujanovic on court, struggled to react (14-8) with obvious difficulties in the ball changeover phase, even on positive reception, and for the tricolour team it was an opportunity not to be missed (16-9). In the end, Mint reached minus three (20-17) and then even minus one with Loeppky in the lead (22-21), but it was only a moment; then, Soli's team (who spent the two timeouts well) resumed its forcing on the opponent (24-21) and closed the accounts on 25-22 with Michieletto's pipe.

Trentino Volley Srl
Press Office